Home Urinary Tract Infection Test - 2 Tests

Urinary tract infection is a serious health problem affecting millions of people each year. The urinary system consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. The kidneys remove excess liquid and wastes from the blood on the form of urine, keeping a stable balance of salts and other substances in the blood. Narrow tubes called ureters carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder, which is a triangle-shaped chamber, in the lower abdomen. Urine is stored in the bladder and emptied through the urethra.

A urinary infection is an inflammation of the urinary tract, mostly caused by bacteria, and primarily intestinal bacteria. This test will screen for the presence of any protein, nitrites or leukocytes in your urine. The presence of these components may indicate a bacterial infection of the bladder.

A urinary infection is an inflammation of the urinary tract, mostly caused by bacteria, and primarily intestinal bacteria. The urinary tract includes the urethra, the bladder, the ureter and the kidneys. Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) are 50 times more common in women and conditions can range from cystitis (a mild but disturbing inflammation that is limited to the bladder) to severe infections of the kidneys. This test will screen for the presence of any protein, nitrites or leukocytes in your urine. The presence of these components may indicate a bacterial infection of the bladder. REMEMBER: If the test is positive be sure to consult your doctor.

Take the test This simple urine test is very accurate. It detects glucose (sugar) in urine. The test gives a simple positive or negative answer. Glucose in urine can be an early sign of diabetes. If the disease is detected early, before symptoms are noticed, treatment is more successful. Once diagnosed by a doctor some diabetics can be treated by keeping to a healthy diet.

Symptoms of urinary tract infection can be divided into two groups; symptoms of lower UTI (Cystitis and Urethritis) and symptoms of upper UTI (pyelonephritis).

Symptoms that indicates lower UTI in adults include the following:

1. Back pain

2. Blood in the urine

3. Cloudy urine

4. Inability to urinate despite the urge

5. Fever

6. Frequent need to urinate

7. General discomfort

8. Painful urination

Symptoms that indicate upper UTI in adults include the following:

1. Chills

2. High fever

3. Nausea (A feeling of sickness in the stomach

characterized by an urge to vomit)

4. Pain below the ribs

5. Vomiting

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Q: Is there any changes on the appearance or colour of urine that may indicate UTI?

A: In case of severe infection, the urine is cloudy due to the presence of large numbers of bacteria and leukocytes. As for the colour, it will be more to a reddish colour in the presence of blood. However, small amounts of blood will not affect the colour. An important point in this regard is that this appearance may be associated with other conditions such as kidney stones. So, performing a more specific test is advised.

Q: How kidney stones and prostate gland enlargement increase the risk of UTI?

A: These two conditions will result in slowing the urine flow out of the body, which will give bacteria better chance to get inside the urinary tract and cause infection.

Q: How is UTI treated?

A: UTIs are treated with antibacterial drugs. The choice of drug and length of treatment should be determined by a physician and depends on the patient history and the urine tests that identify the offending bacteria. The sensitivity test is especially useful in helping doctors to select the most effective drug.

Q: How long it takes to treat a UTI?

A: Often, UTI can be cured within 1 or 2 days of treatment. Still, many doctors ask their patients to take antibiotics for a week or two to ensure that the infection has been completely cured. Patients also need longer treatment with infections caused by Mycoplasma or Chlamydia.

In men, doctors usually recommend longer therapy than in women. This is done to prevent infections of the prostate gland since prostate infections are harder to cure because antibiotics are unable to penetrate infected prostate tissue effectively.

Q: How can I monitor UTI therapy?

A: Using Atlas UTI Check Test, you can redo the test after treatment and monitor the result using the chart above.

Q: Will UTIs come back?

A: Most healthy women do not have repeat infections. However, about one out of every five women who get a UTI will get another one. Some women get three or more UTIs a year. Men get repeat infection more frequently. Anyone who has diabetes or a problem that makes it difficult to urinate may get repeat infections.

Q: How can I keep from getting more UTIs?

A: Changing some of your daily habits may help you avoid UTIs.

1. Drink lots of fluids to flush the bacteria from your system. Water is best. Have 6-8 glasses of water per day.

3. Urinate frequently and go when you first feel the urge. Bacteria can grow when urine stays in the bladder too long.

4. Wear cotton underwear and loose-fitting cloths so that air can keep the area dry. Avoid tight-fitting jeans and nylon underwear, which trap moisture and help bacteria grow.

5. Take showers instead of baths.

SPECIMEN COLLECTION AND PREPARATION:

Collect a clean catch urine sample by washing the genital area and collect a midstream sample of urine in the provided sterile urine cup. This method of collecting urine helps prevent bacteria around the genital area from getting into the sample and confusing the test results. Test the urine as soon as possible after collection. A first morning urine specimen is recommended for nitrite test.

PROCEDURE:

This procedure MUST BE FOLLOWED EXACTLY to achieve reliable test results.

1. Check that the product is within the expiration date shown on the kit pack.

2. Prepare the urine specimen.

3. Remove the strip from the pouch. Familiarize yourself with the position of the reaction area of Leukocytes, RBCs and Nitrite. Pale pink reaction area is for Leukocytes, white is for nitrite and dark yellow area is for blood. Also, familiarize yourself with the colour chart on the pack

4. Dip the test strip in the urine until the reaction areas are completely immersed for no more than 1 second. 5. Remove the dipstick from the urine and tap the strip on the rim of the cup to remove excess urine and place it horizontally with the reaction areas facing up.

6. Leave the strip for 30-60 seconds for the reaction to take place.

7. Read the results by comparing the colours of the reaction on the strip with those of the chart. While comparing, keep the strip in a horizontal position to avoid possible mix of colours between the reaction areas on the strip.

8. Identify the best match colour on the colour chart and the correspondent concentration range. A change in colour that appears only along the edges of the reaction areas indicates that the reaction did not take place properly so we recommend redoing the test with another strip.

Results read after 60 seconds are not valid.

RESULTS:

The results are obtained by direct comparison of test strip with the colour chart printed on the pack. See the table below for test interpretation and recommendations.